The prior art abounds with examples of rotary and like pill dispensers but these, in the main, suffer from one or more drawbacks resulting from the multiple requirements that the instrument be simple, convenient, low-cost, durable and capable of functioning over an extended period of time divided into dosage intervals and particularly wherein the intervals require more than one kind of pill, tablet, capsule, etc.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other drawbacks are eliminated by a novel construction in which the dispenser is capable of dispensing pills, etc. of different types at selected time divisions of a plurality of days. For example, in an eight-day embodiment wherein each day is divided into four time divisions or intervals, the dispenser will dispense at six hour intervals every day for several days, after which the dispenser is "re-loaded" for subsequent multi-day operations. The dispenser disc contains a plurality of sets of pill-containing or dosage pockets arranged on successive curves of a mono-plane spiral that proceeds centrifugally from the vertical center of rotation of the disc. The dispenser is simplified by the use of the flat top of the base as a means for preventing dropping of pills except at predetermined time and day intervals, the control of which derives from the provision in the top of the base of a radial slot normally closed by a progressively moving gate timed with rotation of the disc.
A significant feature of the invention is that notice to the user that all pills of a particular dose have been dispensed and the correct time for consumption has arrived is provided by a signal such as an indicator light or sound generating device that is activated by a suitable means such as a mercury switch. The switch time setting is adjustable for a period of several hours after the pills have been dispensed; for instance, at 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30 in the morning. The switch is moved to an on position by rotation of a shaft that couples the mercury switch and a magnet which turns the shaft when it is attracted to an iron insert that is placed in a desired time setting slot provided in the circumference of the pill dispensing disc. Reset of the switch is accomplished by a push button attached to a nonferrous shaft that merely pushes the magnet back to its rest position.
The foregoing and other important objects and features of the invention will be gathered from the ensuing disclosure of a preferred embodiment of the invention.